One more spin through baseball memories

I know some people get tired of me sharing thoughts on baseball. But after spending a good bit of time this week in Cedar City at the Little League all-stars state tournament, I couldn't help but be reminded of some of the "glory days" of my youth.

I really hope these kids appreciate how special this time is in their lives. Before too long, they are gone, and you're left wondering where the time went.

While I enjoyed my high school days, there was no more fun to be had than when I was playing in the 10- to 12-year-old league in my hometown. We didn't play official Little League, so we didn't have any chance of playing in the Little League World Series. But what we called "little league" was a ton of fun.

First of all, you went to tryouts and got drafted by a team. And you knew you would be with that team for the next three summers. I was a proud member of the Army National Bank team, and we squared off against the likes of Beldon Funeral Home, First National Bank and Larkin-Brown Funeral Home, among others.

Come to think about it, that league was pretty heavy with cash and casket sponsors.

Anyway, I still remember how excited I was for my first practice. I had my sweet George Brett No. 5 cleats and, of course, new wristbands. As the coach hit fly balls, I ran from side to side calling off my new teammates and hauling in the baseballs. One teammate told me to stop playing so hard because I was making them look bad. Needless to say, that was the kid who played the minimum and batted toward the bottom of the order.

As my dad would say, "You had to drive a stake in the ground to make sure he was moving."

I played right field that first year. We were a veteran-laden team, and our pitchers threw pretty hard, so anything that went to the outfield usually went to right - very few left-handed batters in that league.

The next season, I moved to second base in the field and up in the batting order. As a 12-year-old, I played at first base and second base, but pitched as often as I could. We didn't have a pitch count, but could throw six innings per week, and there were enough teams that we never played on back-to-back days.

At the end of each season, we had playoffs. I don't remember my team qualifying my 10-year-old year, and we were eliminated fairly early my 11-year-old year. But when I was 12, we upset the dominant Fort Leavenworth team in the semifinals and beat a pretty good First National Bank team for the championship.

That was the second trophy I had ever won, with the other being a Pine Wood Derby championship.

As I write this, we still don't know which teams will win the championships in the various age levels in Cedar City. We should know Saturday.

But I hope the kids playing in these tournaments know how lucky they are to be getting this kind of experience. Many will go on to play for high school teams, but some may not make the roster.

The point is they are playing now. They are getting the chance to play a great game on some great fields with fun teammates. And they are making some great memories that just may stick with them well into adulthood.

Todd Seifert writes about the everyday occurrences in life each Friday. Contact him at tseifert@thespectrum.com. Follow him on Twitter, @ToddSeifert.

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One more spin through baseball memories

I know some people get tired of me sharing thoughts on baseball. But after spending a good bit of time this week in Cedar City at the Little League all-stars state tournament, I couldn't help but be